Cooly G

Merrisa Campbell, known by her recording alias Cooly G, is a British singer, rapper, producer and DJ, living in London. She has released two albums of bass music on Hyperdub: Playin' Me (2012) and Wait 'Til Night (2014).^[1][2]

Music

Her full-length albums "explore more complex, difficult and polarising emotional frequencies than can possibly [be] visited on her club-ready EP output."^[3]

Singles and EPs from 2008 onwards have encompassed UK funky,^[4][5][6] jungle,^[7] garage, grime, deep house and dub.^[8]

Alexis Petridis in The Guardian described her debut album Playin' Me (2012) thus: "You hear fragments of lover's rock, dubstep, Soul II Soul, drum'n'bass, UK funky and Massive Attack's stoned melancholy: the end result sounds unearthly, alternately scattered and luscious, and ultimately like no one else. Her vocals – unreconstructed south-London accent, beautifully understated style, lyrics that trace the arc of a relationship going wrong – bring it back down to earth."^[9] A review in the NME concurs that "'Playin' Me' develops the UK funky sound she's been pushing for years, with its devastating sub-bass, raindrop drums and warm vocals. Within those vocals is a pop edge, and some of her lyrics could be cut straight from the Top 40 [ . . .] But the best thing about 'Playin' Me' is that for all its futuristic swirl, it's a record about living in London in 2012."^[10] Petridis praised the inclusion of a cover of "Trouble" by Coldplay, where as the NME was critical of it.^[9][10]

Paul MacInnes in The Guardian described second album Wait 'Til Night (2014) as "bass-driven hip hop; and a lyrical theme, lust."^[7]

In 2010, Cooly G set up a record label, Dub Organizer, a name she had previously used for a series of CD-R releases.^[11] She played Boiler Room DJ sets in London in 2014 and 2018.^[12][13] She has "taught sound engineering and held music production and DJ workshops for disaffected teens."^[14][10]

Personal life

Campbell was born in Brixton, South London.^[15]

She has two children.^[16][17] They lost all their belongings in a fire on 31 December 2018. Campbell had been using a temporary storage lock up in Croydon, which was destroyed in a fire, having abandoned their home after a flood and whilst waiting to move.^[18][19][20]

Discography

Albums

• Playin' Me (Hyperdub, 2012)^[21][22][23]
• Wait 'Til Night (Hyperdub, 2014)^[24][25]

Singles and EPs

• Dub Organizer Vol 1 (BM Funky, 2008) – CD-R, EP
  • Dub Organiser Vol 1 (Dub Organizer, 2010) – digital
• Dub Organizer Vol 2 (2008) – CD-R, EP
• "Narst" / "Love Dub" (Hyperdub, 2009)^[21][26]
• Dub Organizer Vol 3 – EP
  • CD-R (BM Funky, 2009)
  • Digital (Dub Organizer, 2010)
• "Hyperdub 5.5" (Hyperdub, 2009) – split with Mala; includes "Weekend Fly" by Cooly G
• "Up in My Head" / "Phat Si" (Hyperdub, 2010)^[27]
• "Dis Boy" (DVA, 2010) – split with Scratcha DVA*; includes "DIS Boy" by Cooly G
• Dub Organizer Vol 4 (Dub Organizer, 2010) – digital, EP
• Dub Organizer Vol 5 (Dub Organizer, 2010) – digital, EP
• Dub Organizer Vol 6 (Dub Organizer, 2010) – digital, EP
• "Landscapes" / "It's Serious" (Hyperdub, 2011)^[28][29]
• Hold Me (Hyperdub, 2014) – EP^[30][31][32]
• Armz House (Hyperdub, 2015) – EP^[33]